Statement gemstones: enchanting beauty inside and out

September 8, 2017

Upon hearing the words “rare gem” - as a rule - the imagination conjures images of precious stones of the highest standard: diamonds, sapphires, rubies or emeralds. But are these the only stones that deserve attention and investment?

The concept of 'rare' can also include precious stones in other categories, as well as semi-precious stones of impressive sizes. In nature, precious stones that reach 5 carats or more after they have been cut are much less common than the more modestly sized gems of only a couple of carats. Therefore, they have always piqued more interest among collectors and investors. These include the likes of aquamarines, pink and red spinels, neon-blue Paraiba tourmalines, pink-red rubellites in bright shades, spessartine orange garnets, or green tsavorites and violet-blue tanzanites.

It must be said, increasing attention to large rare stones is far from a new trend, because people have always trembled beneath the weight of large, glittering minerals. Now, attaining these large gemstones is the aspiration of each high jewellery art collector, thanks to their attractive investment factors; large stones increase in price faster than small ones. Moreover, a large gem is a masterpiece created by nature, whole and complete. Therefore, generally speaking, when working with these gem ‘giants’, jewellers build the design starting with the stone, and not vice versa. Creating a worthy frame that allows for the maximisation of the stones' beauty – that is their principal task.

Want to be sure of this? Then I suggest getting to know jewellery lucky enough to have been adorned with large and rare stones that embody - in all senses - the chic qualities of big rocks.

Van Cleef&Arpels Secret de Amoureaux clip with a pear-shaped orangy-pink sapphire of 2.74 carats from Sri Lanka is paired with a pear-shaped violet sapphire of 1.36 carats, a heart-shaped rubellite of 12.04 carats, with diamonds and sapphireszoom